My Meeting with the Oakridge Daytimers, the Sequel
Well, if I could ever know your name, I would never be the same.
This past Tuesday, I had the opportunity to speak to the Daytimers–a women’s organization from the Oakridge neighborhood. I always enjoy speaking with the ladies and providing an update on items concerning the City.
The meeting this week focused on the past and future of Garland with updates on the 2019 Bond Program, the 2024 Bond Study Committee and the Garland Forward 2050 Comprehensive Plan.
I always like to make the meetings interactive like my last meeting where I took a straw poll of their top priorities for a future bond program.
This time, I presented the same three questions posed by Kevin Shepherd of Verdunity, the planning consultant hired by the City to develop the comprehensive plan. Those questions are
How might we…?
What do you love about Garland?
What is your biggest hope for Garland?
I asked the ladies to respond on a note card, then I entered their answers into a word cloud with the largest words representing the highest and most common responses. The answers aggregated below provided some interesting results.
How might we…?
The answers were generally forward looking with the Daytimers requesting new restaurants and shopping opportunities. They also wanted to see continuing city beautification and improving neighborhoods. Some responses did concern problems such as code enforcement (residential maintenance) and street racing laws.
What do you love about Garland?
The wonderful Police Department, Sanitation Department and GP&L were the overwhelming favorites here. The ladies love the weekly brush pickup, secure neighborhoods including the NPO program, and the low electric rates. They also loved their neighbors and the people of Garland.
What is your biggest hope for Garland?
The responses here revolved around addressing the homeless and panhandling issues in Garland, keeping housing and taxes affordable, and getting new restaurants and recreation activities. The smaller text here shows the wide variety of answers as to what they hope for Garland.
I always love conducting exercises as this. To me, it is validation that we are on the right track as a city with the improvements we have made with the 2019 Bond Program and that will be made with the future bond program that is now being formulated by our current Bond Study Committee.
So, what are my three answers to those questions?
How might we…?
Get our sales tax revenues on par with neighboring cities. This statement has big impacts across how we plan our redevelopment efforts, future housing options, and what we incentivize
What do you love about Garland?
That someone such as me who moved to Garland in 2015 can immediately get involved with their neighborhood association and be eventually elected to the City Council. Garland is a town where individuals can make a big impact on the future of their city if they just get involved.
What is your biggest hope for Garland?
That it will continue to be a great place to raise my three kids. Farther into the future, I would love to see Garland as a place where my kids will want to live their lives when they are my age.
I am interested to see what your answers are to those three questions. Provide your responses in the comments section below.
Let’s go back to the Daytimers, pride of Dayton, Ohio with their song “If I.”